Chalein saath saath: Modi, Obama's op-ed

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Barack Obama wrote a joint editorial in The Washington Post, which appeared on its website on Tuesday.

Headlined ‘A renewed US-India partnership for the 21st century’, the op-ed talks about democracy, robust partnership and Modi’s pet ‘Clean India’ campaign.

Read the complete op-ed here

Here are top quotes from the editorial.

1. Ties between the United States and India are rooted in the shared desire of our citizens for justice and equality.

2. Today our partnership is robust, reliable and enduring, and it is expanding. Our relationship involves more bilateral collaboration than ever before — not just at the federal level but also at the state and local levels, between our two militaries, private sectors and civil society. Indeed, so much has happened that, in 2000, then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee could declare that we are natural allies.

3. The true potential of our relationship has yet to be fully realized. The advent of a new government in India is a natural opportunity to broaden and deepen our relationship.  

4. This will be an agenda that enables us to find mutually rewarding ways to expand our collaboration in trade, investment and technology that harmonize with India’s ambitious development agenda, while sustaining the United States as the global engine of growth.

5. We will discuss ways in which our businesses, scientists and governments can partner as India works to improve the quality, reliability and availability of basic services, especially for the poorest of citizens. In this, the United States stands ready to assist. An immediate area of concrete support is the “Clean India” campaign, where we will leverage private and civil society innovation, expertise and technology to improve sanitation and hygiene throughout India.

6. As nations, as people, we aspire to a better future for all; one in which our strategic partnership also produces benefits for the world at large.

7. As global partners, we are committed to enhancing our homeland security by sharing intelligence, through counterterrorism and law-enforcement cooperation, while we jointly work to maintain freedom of navigation and lawful commerce across the seas.

8. The promise of a better tomorrow is not solely for Indians and Americans: It also beckons us to move forward together for a better world. This is the central premise of our defining partnership for the 21st century. Forward together we go -- chalein saath saath.